Chris Thile and Brad Mehldau bond through mutual musical appreciation

Chris Thile once titled an album ‘Not All Who Wander Are Lost’ after a poem by J.R.R. Tolkien. It could easily describe his life as a musician. Thile was known as a mandolin prodigy before he was a teen and became a star as part of the group Nickel Creek. He followed that act by forming The Punch Brothers and embarks on regular musical pairings with all manner of ace players, including Yo-Yo Ma, Edgar Meyer and Stuart Duncan in the ‘Goat Rodeo’ project.

In conversation, Thile is always enthusiastic about music and where it’s taking him. The limited number of concerts he’s performing with jazz lion Brad Mehldau is a good example.

He says it was fellow Punch Brother Gabe Witcher who introduced him to Mehldau’s music.